A leaked report earlier this year indicated serious problems in an FSC certified logging operation. FSC’s certifier, SmartWood, was oblivious to the problems – at the time the report was written, they hadn’t visited the forests they’d certified for three years.

Voice of America reported in September that “Illegal logging remains a serious problem in Laos, even though the government has banned timber exports for the past fifteen years”. Only processed wood can be legally exported from Laos.